Man who carried out deadly Minneapolis apartment shooting was investigated for handgun in June, officials say

Minneapolis (AP) — The man who carried out a deadly shooting in a Minneapolis apartment building had been investigated in June after displaying a handgun, but wasn’t charged, the county prosecutor said Thursday.

Carlton Johnson was killed by police who raced to the building after the first reports of gunfire, said Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the state investigate agency.

Court documents say Johnson was facing eviction and had threatened a fellow resident with a gun in the months leading up to the shooting, which left two people dead, along with Johnson, and five others injured.

But the shooting began just outside the building’s entrance during an arranged custody handoff, when Johnson shot and wounded a woman believed to be the mother of his child, Evans said. The child was not injured.

He then shot two building employees before taking an elevator to the 9th floor where he killed two building residents and then was killed in an exchange of fire with police. Evans said it was unclear if Johnson was targeting the residents or had simply encountered them in the hallway.

The five wounded included two Minneapolis police officers hit by gunfire and another officer who suffered injuries elsewhere during the operation, police said. The three officers were hospitalized but expected to make full recoveries. One officer was shot in the leg and another was shot twice in the abdomen, officials said.

“This is once again a situation where domestic violence is central to a really terrible situation,” Drew told reporters.

Earlier, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said Johnson had “displayed the weapon but it did not leave his waistband” in a June 25th encounter. Minneapolis Police, who responded to the call that day, said he had a legal permit to carry the weapon, she said in a statement.

Moriarty said the office decided not to file the charges because there was “insufficient evidence to prove a charge beyond a reasonable doubt.”

2 dead and multiple people injured — including police officers — in mass shooting at downtown Minneapolis apartment building

On Thursday, investigators were scouring the scene of the downtown Minneapolis shooting .

Dozens of law enforcement officers were at the apartment building where the shooting occurred Wednesday evening, along with a mobile crime scene unit from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the state investigative agency.

Minneapolis council member Elizabeth Shaffer represents the neighborhood where the shooting happened. She said 16 displaced residents had sheltered in a nearby church overnight and that the Red Cross had been providing support. Shaffer said her staff hadn’t received any previous constituent complaints related to safety or building management.

“That is surprising when you read the news reports, you know, of what was happening in the building, but there was, we have heard nothing,” she said.

Resident Julius Bailey was sitting with a friend just outside the building entrance when he heard gunshots and saw a man he recognized as another resident holding a pistol. Bailey said he heard a woman screaming and immediately started running, counting eight shots as he headed for safety.

Bailey said the man with the gun was well known in the building for being belligerent and showing off his weapon. Bailey, who moved into the building in June, said he went out of his way to avoid the man.

“I could tell he was trouble,” he said.

Chris Miller, who also lives in the apartment building, said he heard a rapid succession of gunshots and quickly ran outside for safety. He said he believed he knew who carried out the shooting and that he encountered someone in the hallway with a handgun earlier this week and reported that person to management.

明尼阿波利斯（美联社）——县检察官周四表示，在明尼阿波利斯一栋公寓楼内实施致命枪击案的男子曾在6月份因展示手枪而受到调查，但并未被起诉。

明尼苏达州刑事侦查局局长德鲁·埃文斯表示，在接到第一起枪击报告后，警方迅速赶到现场，击毙了卡尔顿·约翰逊。明尼苏达州刑事侦查局是该州的调查机构。

法庭文件显示，约翰逊面临被驱逐的困境，并且在枪击事件发生前的几个月里，他曾用枪威胁过一名邻居。枪击事件造成包括约翰逊本人在内的两人死亡，另有五人受伤。

埃文斯说，枪击事件发生在建筑物入口外，当时正在进行事先安排好的监护权交接。约翰逊开枪打伤了一名据信是他孩子母亲的女子。孩子没有受伤。

随后，他枪杀了两位大楼员工，然后乘电梯到9楼，在那里枪杀了两位住户，最后在与警方的交火中被击毙。埃文斯表示，目前尚不清楚约翰逊是蓄意袭击住户，还是只是在走廊里偶遇他们。

警方称，五名伤者中包括两名明尼阿波利斯警官，他们被枪击中，另有一名警官在行动中其他地点受伤。三名受伤警官已被送往医院，预计将完全康复。官员表示，一名警官腿部中弹，另一名警官腹部中了两枪。

德鲁告诉记者：“这又是一起家庭暴力导致的非常可怕局面的核心事件。”

此前，亨内平县检察官玛丽·莫里亚蒂表示，在6月25日的一次冲突中，约翰逊“亮出了武器，但武器并未从腰间取出”。她在声明中说，当天接警出警的明尼阿波利斯警方表示，约翰逊持有合法持枪许可证。

莫里亚蒂表示，由于“没有足够的证据可以排除合理怀疑地证明指控成立”，因此该办公室决定不提出指控。

明尼阿波利斯市中心公寓楼发生大规模枪击事件，造成2人死亡，多人受伤，其中包括警察。

周四，调查人员正在明尼阿波利斯市中心枪击案现场进行搜查。

周三晚上发生枪击事件的公寓楼里，数十名执法人员以及来自明尼苏达州刑事侦查局（该州的调查机构）的移动犯罪现场小组都赶到了现场。

明尼阿波利斯市议员伊丽莎白·沙弗代表枪击案发生的社区。她说，16名流离失所的居民在附近的一座教堂过夜，红十字会一直在为他们提供帮助。沙弗表示，她的工作人员此前没有收到任何选民关于安全或建筑管理的投诉。

“当你读到新闻报道，了解大楼里发生的事情时，你会觉得这很令人惊讶，但我们什么也没听到，”她说。

居民朱利叶斯·贝利当时正和朋友坐在楼门口，突然听到枪声，看到一个他认出是另一位居民的男子手里拿着手枪。贝利说，他听到一名女子尖叫，便立即拔腿就跑，在逃生途中他数到自己听到了八声枪响。

贝利说，持枪男子在楼里臭名昭著，他为人好斗，还喜欢炫耀武器。贝利六月份搬进这栋楼，他说自己一直刻意避开这名男子。

他说：“我当时就觉得他是个麻烦。”

住在同一栋公寓楼里的克里斯·米勒说，他听到一阵急促的枪声，便迅速跑到外面躲避。他说他相信自己知道是谁开的枪，而且本周早些时候，他曾在走廊里遇到过一个持枪者，并已向物业报告过此事。